Light armored vehicles (LAVs) have been in military use around the world in combat and combat support roles for many years. Common LAV variants combine interior space for personnel transport with a driver compartment, engine compartment, and armaments for combat. These types of LAVs share a weak structural point at the driver compartment.
LAVs are designed with the engine and driver compartments adjacent to one another at the front of the vehicle. As a result of this design, space in the driver compartment is limited and does not permit an ordinarily acceptable or desirable level of structural reinforcement and armoring of the driver compartment. Existing LAVs use separate structural components to selectively reinforce areas of the driver compartment, resulting in a lack of overall strength in the area. This places the driver at an increased risk of injury or death in the event the driver compartment is exposed to an explosive blast, such as the blast delivered by a mine or improvised explosive device (IED).
In the event, for example, a LAV is exposed to an explosive blast to the underside of the vehicle, beneath the driver compartment, the resulting explosive load acts to deform the driver compartment, which may collapse inwardly on the driver. This occurs because of a reduced level or armoring or insufficient structural reinforcement in the driver compartment primarily due to insufficient space therefor.
The technical challenge for improvement of the safety and survivability of the driver is to find space in which to fit sufficient armor and structural components to effectively reinforce the driver compartment to resist the explosive load delivered by mines or IEDs and thereby protect the driver.
As a result, there exists a need to improve the survivability of a LAV driver from an explosive blast. Practically and economically, there is a need to retrofit existing LAVs, rather than replace them with new designs, due to the lengthy procurement process which takes years to bring new vehicles into service.